HERE AND THERE.

Otago Witness, Issue 2983, 17 May 1911, Page 93

HERE AND THERE.

The Late King of the Scottish Gipsies.—

Some of the spectators at the picturesque ceremonials connected with the crowning bi " Charles II " at Kirk YethoLm 13 years ago prophesied that that would probably ba the last gipsy coronation which would be witnessed in Scotland. The prophecy appears likely to be fulfilled. Ten years ago, when Charles was gathered to his fathers, he was succeeded by his brother Prince David. But the latter died five years ago without having been crowned. He was succeeded in his turn by his eldest eon Thomas, but Thomas also has now passed away without having the crown placed upon his head. The monarch who has just died claimed to be descended from the famous '' Johnne Fa.w, Lord and Erie of Litill Egipt," who, as the Scottish records bear witness, was treated with by King James V. of 'Scotland as the head of a separate and independent or quasiindependent community, and of that Johnnie F&W with whom the Countess of Cassilis eloped, as set forth in a familiar Border ballad. Of his early_ genealogy, however, there are not sufficient proofs. His authentic pedigree goes back to 1715, when Auld Wully Eaa reigned. To Wully succeeded his son, William 11, nicknamed " Gleid-Neckit ,Wull " (owing to hi® neck being twisted), who was distinguished as the father of two-dozen children. The palace of his successor, Charles I, was a resort of notable visitors, among whom was Sir Walter Scott. The most noted of the gipsy monarchs since then was Queen Esther, a very intelligent woman, the mother of Charles 11. Kirk Yetholmi, which for several centuries was the hea-cU quarters of, the Scottish oripsies and the seat of their royal _" palace," nestles at the foot of the Cheviot Hills, about seven miles .wrath of Kelso. A little way below the village the Bowmont Water, which eparates it from. Town Yetholm, jails into

the Till, near Flodden Field. According to tradition, the bodies of many of the Scottish nobles who fell at Flodden were conveyed to Kirk Yetholm, and were buried in the church and churchyard. In the same churchyard repose many generations of gipsy kings, and queens, princes, and princesses, lords and commons. But in the village there axe now few gipsies left. Those of them who remain are known by the vulgar and unromantic name of "muggers" (potters). Things Which Affect the Teeth.—

In an address to members of the School Dentists' Society, London (says the Standard), Mr Hopewell-Smith gave the result of tests which he had made to discover the effect of various kinds of food—chiefly sweets, fruit, and condiments—on the teeth. After explaining that caries, or decay of the teeth, was primarily a condition of adolescence, he said that the way in which the bacteria produced the decaywas still a mystery. The object of his experiments had been to find which substances accelerated and which retarded the growth of the germs which caused decay. The most striking factor in .the promotion of growth was sweets. Acid-drops apparently prevented it, but chocolate "was extremely bad, and bullseyes, butterballs, and sticky sweets were worse still. From a dental point of view, sour milk, often prescribed by physicians, was very bad, as the germs grew rapidly on it. He bad tested the effect of oranges, apples, grapes, lemons, etc., and found that in 16 hours a huge amount of errowth of bacteria was presented by them. Mustard, vinegar, and coffee were good, as they stopped the growth, while tea, salt, and cocoa retarded decay. On the other hand, pepper encouraged it to an enormous extent. Wheaty and starchy things were not good, as anything; containing starch was converted into sugar when in the mouth and from that into acid. Mr Hopewell-Smith showed a table, which he had had prepared, _ and this, revealed the following classification :

The appalling gulf between rich, and poor in the United Kingdom is strikingly shown in Mr Chrozza Money's new work, " Riches and Poverty." Here axe some of the figures :—The total aggregate >■ income of the 44,500,000 people of the United Kingdom, was in 1908-9 approximately £1,844,000,000. Of this sum 1,400,000 persons took £634.000,000; 4,100,000, £275,000,000 ; and 39,000,000, £935,000,000. About one-half of the entire annual income of the nation is enjoyed by about 12 per cent, of its population. It is probably true that a group of about 120,000 persons, who with their families form about one-seventieth of the population, owns about two-thirds of the entire accumulated wealth of the United Kingdom. The gross amount of profits assessed to income' tax was for the year 1903-9. £l.olo,ooo,ooo—an increase of over 200 millions in 10 years. During the years 1900-1908 profits'have risen 21.2 per cent. ; in the same period wages have risen by only 1 per cent. Though nominal wages have risen 1 per cent., real wages have fallen in consequence of the rise in the cost of living. This rise during 1900-1908 has been 9 per cent..; hence real wages have fallen 8 per cent. Thus we see that since 1900 the rich have become richer and the poor poorer; the gulf between them has widened. To impose further taxation on the mass of the people for a greater navy would, indeed, be to saddle them with a crushing burden. But if the main source of increased expenditure were the excessively rich, could they not well afford to pay? —American Wealth and the Workers.— Writing in Everybody's Magazine, Frederick Townsend Martin, a New York millionaire, declares that the average employee in the U.S.A. produces £256 of wealth every.year. Of this amount he gets £B7. The remainder (£169) goes into the hands of other men, the capitalist or the exploiter of labour. Mr Martin adds : "I do not mean to say that all the dividends and interest are gathered by the idle rich. Such a condition as that can exist only once in the history of the nation. It came about in Rome —and it led to the fall. It came about in France—and it led to the terror. Here in America it has gone far, to be sure, and the tendency is onward; but it ha-3 not yet reached a point where we can soy, ' tomorrow the harvest is ripe.' For iO years we have been piling up wealth in the hands of men wlk> do not work. It has gone so far that to-day, in every city in the Union, the class of idle rich has reached proportions that, to the thoughtful student, are alarming. Machinery, instead of emancipating the workers, has welded chains of industrial slavery about their necks. The fruit of invention is plucked by the hands of the few. The onoe powerful middle class, which is the safety of every nation, is weak and is every day declining." —Proved Innocent.— A convict named Andrew Toth, who was sentenced 20 years ago to the Pennsylvania State Penitentiary on a charge of murder, has just been released because his innocence of the crime has been proved. Toth was an employee at the Carnegie iron mills, and was charged and convicted of the murder of a fellow-employee. A worker named Willow had been killed on the mill premises, and there was scarcely any clue to his murderer. Suspicion fell upon over a dozen men, and when they were arrayed for examination an Austrian named Gratz stumbled as he stepped into line. Toth laughed at him, and Gratz, who was a high-tempered man, became angry and accused Toth of the murder out of revenge; ' The other men, hoping

to escape, acquiesced In Ihe accusation, and solely upon this evidence Toth was convicted. Owing to its doubtful character, however, be was sentenced to a life imprisonment, and not to death. About a month ago the Austrian Gratz returned to his former home abroad, but before going confessed to his revengeful act of 20 years ago. The case was investigated, and Gratz’a story substantiated by a few of the actors in the drama who are still olive —The Cities of the Empire.— Interesting figures relating to population are given in the Statistical Abstract for the British Empire, recently issued (says the Daily Mail). The bulk of the volume is devoted to figures relating to the trade and shipping of the Empire. It is interesting to note the relative population of the great cities of the Empire, as estimated in

As regards the trade of the British Empire, its total value in 1909 amounted to £1,596,000,000, of which 75.2 per cent, was foreign, and 24.8 per cent, was intraImperial. The best foreign customer of the Empire is the United States of America, which takes £105,000,000 of the Empire's exports. Next follows Germany, with £82,000,000; and then France, with £57,000,000. —A Baroness and an American Farmer.— The "White Star liner Laurentic brought to New York a bride to John Hutt, a Eleasant-faced, grey-whiskered farmer, of ebanon, Ohio, in the person of the Baroness E. de Bottenburg, of London. Farmer Hutt is 55, and the Baroness 45. They will be married in Ohio. The Baroness stood by the rail as the ship drew near the pier looking anxiously for her lover, for she was alone. When she espied Hutt she became visibly excited, and her cheeks flushed. On the pier they met as lovers. In 1870 Hutt came here from Haddenham, England, and went into stock-farming in Warren Coiinty, Ohio. He prospered and married. His wife died 16 years ago. Last summer Hutt went back to his old home looking for a wfie. He did not find one in Haddenham, but in a London boarding-house he met the Baroness, who says she is an Englishwoman. All the boarders showed an interest in Farmer Hutt's stories of America, but none manifested a keener interest than the Baroness. Her good looks and intelligence won the Ohio farmer, who proposed The Baroness said she would see about it. Hutt returned home in September They corresponded. The Baroness liked his letters, and gave her consent to become Mrs Hutt No. 2.

Favourable to Decay. Unfavourable to Decay Popper Milk Sour milk Glucose Chocolate Acid drops Oranges Mustard Starch Vinegar Apples Coffee Grapes Tea Butterballs Salt Pigs Lemons Bulleeycs Pineapples — Riches and Poverty.—

1910 London (County) 4,873,000 Calcutta >and Port 1,031,000 Bombay and Cantonments.. 978,000 Manchester and. Salford .. 980,000 Glasgow ,, 884,000 Liverpool ,, 768,000 Sydney 603,000 Birmingham 570,000 Madras ,. 569,000 Melbourne 562,000 Montreal .. .. '.. 500,000